Jailed for three years

A burglar was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to five offences in Wiltshire and other parts of the country.

Wiltshire Police were called to a break-in at Bookers cash and carry, in Harnham, Salisbury, in the early hours of September 4, last year 2018. CCTV cameras had been moved and a disc cutter used to break through the outside wall.

Once inside, they had tried to cut a hole in the cigarette store but were disturbed by an alarm so ran off.

Officers saw a group of men about to drive off in a Ford Galaxy car, but they left the vehicle.
and when Police searched it, they found forensic evidence, disc cutters, crowbars and other tools.

A number of phones found revealed the car had been in the London area, then Basingstoke, where a similar offence had occurred at a Bookers Cash and Carry there.

On March 25, 44-year-old Mihai Apitilisei, of no fixed address, was arrested in Milton Keynes in connection with an attempted break-in at a commercial premises there.

His DNA was a match for the Salisbury burglary, and other offences across the UK.

Apitilisei appeared at Swindon Crown Court last Thursday , June 6 and pleaded guilty to five charges of burglary. He was given a range of consecutive prison sentences, from 15 months to three years and will serve a total of three years in jail.

Det Con Mark Welch, from Wiltshire Police’s Community Tasking Team, said: “Apitilisei was clearly part of a very organised group of offenders who would target commercial premises in the hours of darkness and would go equipped with tools for the job.

“Our enquiries are now ongoing to find the offenders who worked alongside him and make sure they are also brought to justice.”